ISSUES IN MARKETING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Nagasimha Balakrishna Kanagal
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
University Address: E-205, Faculty Block
Indian Institute of Management
Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560 076, INDIA
Phone:
91 80 26993185 / 3127
Email:
kanagal@iimb.ernet.in
Dr. Nagasimha Balakrishna Kanagal is Associate Professor, Marketing and Chairperson of
Marketing Area at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
Acknowledgement: The author thanks the management officials in the following companies
whose offices are in Bangalore, India – 1. Airtel Ltd.
3. Himalaya Drug Co. 4. Laguna Clothing Ltd.
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2. Brittania Industries Ltd.
ISSUES IN MARKETING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Summary
Marketing Strategy Implementation (MSI) is responsible for delivering the value proposition to
the customers. MSI can be seen as (1) dichotomous with marketing strategy formulation or as (2)
a mutually interdependent process along with marketing strategy formulation or as (3) a
programme. Aspects postulated to be important during the implementation process include (a)
presence of good leadership (b) careful attention to the formative years of MSI programme, (c)
presence of trust in all important relationships (d) system of early warning / feedback, (e)
achieving functionalities in the marketing process (f) a fetish for execution (g) hype about
rewards and incentives (h) choice of market vs. hierarchy. The study first addresses the
placement of MSI in the strategic marketing process and the strategic organizational process,
secondly examines the nature of marketing execution, and thirdly puts forth some postulates for
marketing strategy implementation. These postulates are subsequently empirically checked in the
market and implications for managers are subsequently laid out.
Key words: Strategic Marketing Process, Trust, Overcoming Resistance to Change, Leader as
Integrator, Fetish for Execution.
I.
Introduction
Marketing Strategy Implementation is a key process in the strategic marketing process of the
organization. If Marketing Strategy objectives are to lead to performance results then the
strategy formulation should lend itself to strategy implementation. This means that the strategy
formulation should take into account the implementation obstacles to make the strategy work
smoothly. Good strategy followed by good implementation leads to success, while poor strategy
followed by poor implementation leads to failure. At the same time poor strategy followed by
good implementation leads to average outcomes and causes trouble while good strategy followed
by poor implementation leads to ruin. This underscores the importance of good implementation.
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As quoted by Prof John Quelch in his HBS Note, two surveys by INSEAD and Stanford
University in the early 1990s showed that the ‘how shall we do it’ of marketing issues was more
important than ‘what should we do’. Some of the common issues that came out of the surveys as
important issues to be addressed were – ensuring product and service quality, assessing changing
customers’ needs, creating a marketing culture throughout the firm. These preceding issues were
to be addressed from an implementation angle rather than from a strategy formulation angle.
Marketing Strategy Implementation is tied to the identification of the implementation process to
top management. Senior positions in the organization coming from the marketing function go a
long way in easing the process of marketing strategy implementation.
The components of marketing strategy implementation include (1) marketing strategy (2) shared
goals and values (3) marketing structure (4) systems and processes (5) resources (6) people and
(7) leadership. People are ultimately responsible for implementing marketing activities.
Therefore the manager must be good at motivating, coordinating and communicating with all
marketing personnel. The quality, diversity and skill of an organization’s work force are all
important considerations in implementing marketing strategy. Consequently, human resource
issues are becoming more important to marketing implementation in the areas of employee
selection and training, evaluation and compensation policies, and employee motivation,
satisfaction and commitment (Ferrell O C et.al, 1998).
Thomas Bonoma of Harvard Business School proposed a framework for understanding
marketing implementation issues (Bonoma, 1984). He postulated that execution could take place
at any or a combination of four levels – actions, programs, systems and policies. Actions are the
building blocks of execution – as a sales person presenting a cooperative advertising program to
an account. Programs are integrated sets of marketing actions – integrated communications
program. Systems include the firm’s formal organizational monitoring and budgeting overlays
which foster or inhibit getting the marketing job done. Policies prescribe whereas systems
describe. Policies shape the organizational marketing theme, culture and leadership and give
direction to the systems, programs and actions of a firm. Bonoma further cites four managerial
skills that can reinforce good policies, systems, programs and actions. These are interaction
skills, allocation skills, monitoring skills, organizing skills. Bonoma’s framework basically
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includes in identifying at which level of execution and in which skill does the organization’s
weakness in implementation lies and in rectifying them. The importance of good implementation
need not be overemphasized. Implementation skills valued by distribution channels and / or end
customers can be important points of competitive differentiation.
The economic penalties
stemming from poor execution can be substantial. Implementation skills may be more important
when the competitive environment is turbulent. Implementation skills are always important, but
the required mix of skills may vary from one organization to another just as the appropriate mix
will vary within an organization from one execution level to another (Quelch, 1984).
II.
Strategic Marketing Process
The strategic marketing process starts with the marketing objectives. The overriding business
objectives include either sales or share objective and minimization of uncertainty/risk. Some of
the typical marketing objectives are – build brand equity, achieve a particular level of customer
satisfaction, build awareness, achieve minimal customer complaints, promote trial. The strategic
marketing process then leads to the strategic market analysis and the internal analysis. The
strategic market analysis assesses the external environment – includes customer management and
analysis, market management and analysis, environmental scanning and scenario planning. The
internal analysis includes the assessment of strengths and weaknesses, the resolution of
constraints and the check on core competencies. The strategic marketing process then flows into
the development of marketing strategies. The development of marketing strategies gets its input
from (1) strategic market analysis (2) internal analysis (3) analysis of past performance and
current strategy (4) analytical inputs that includes the understanding and application of
competition (5) issues of technology choice and changing customer needs. The development of
marketing strategies includes decisions on (1) Segmentation and targeting (2) differentiation and
positioning (3) market entry /exit (4) market timing (5) product strategy (6) pricing strategy (7)
promotion strategy (8) distribution strategy (9) functionality issues. The development of
marketing strategies is followed by their effective and efficient execution – the marketing
strategy implementation. The context / business environment of marketing execution includes the
influences of (a) culture (b) power (c) technology choice (d) change (e) competitive interaction
(f) corporate strategy and structure. This is then followed by control and feedback issues; the
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feedback being sent both to the marketing objectives stage and to the development of marketing
strategies stage. The Business Marketing Strategy impacts the business marketing structure and
the business marketing structure in turn influences implementation results and is influenced by
implementation. This is demonstrated pictorially in Figure 1.
Marketing Objectives
Strategic Market Analysis
Internal Analysis
Changing Customer Needs
Past Performance / Current Strategy
Development of Marketing Strategies
Analytical Inputs/
Competition Analysis
Execution/ Implementation of Marketing Strategy
Change / Power /Comp. Interaction /
Tech/Choice//Culture /Corp. Strategy & Structure
Feedback / Control
Business Marketing Structure
Figure 1:
Strategic Marketing Process
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The strategic marketing process is embedded in a larger process of the organization called
strategic organizational process (Figure 2 below). This process (adapted from Hrebiniak, 2005),
starts with the goals and vision and mission of the organization. This is followed by the
organization wide strategy also called the corporate strategy. The corporate strategy influences
the organizational structure and the business marketing process. Execution of corporate strategy
relies partially on the appropriate structure to support it.
Change
Power
Leadership
Culture
Goals, Vision, Mission
Corporate Strategy
Technology Strategy
Lead Business Marketing Strategy
Short Term Objectives / Metrics
Corporate Structure / Integration
Business Marketing Structure
Other Functional Strategies
People Strategy
Other Functional
Manufacturing Strategy
Structures / Integration
Financial Strategy
Incentives and Controls
Figure 2:
Strategic Organizational Process
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The integration component of corporate structure as given in figure 2 pertains to the methods
used to achieve coordination across various units that comprise the organization. Information
sharing and integration can increase the flexibility of structure and the firm’s ability to execution
related problems. Coordination and information sharing has to be across functions, across
businesses, across products. Such integration is possible only if the tasks responsibilities and
accountabilities are clear. Lateral communication, transfer of knowledge across different
business units within the organization is also important to execution success (Hrebiniak, 2005).
The corporate strategy influences the functional strategy process of functions such as
manufacturing, finance, marketing etc. through the short term objectives that include (a)
customer satisfaction (b) sales quotas (c) quality measures (d) cost controls (e) manufacturing
downtime. Translation of strategy into short term operating objectives mentioned above that
relate logically to and are consistent with business strategy is very important to execution. A
business simply must ensure that everyday objectives and performance metrics are consistent
with its strategic goals and plans.
Business Marketing Strategy creates demands for
organizational investments in people, technology and other capabilities. Such investments should
be made and appropriate skills developed for successful execution. The business marketing
process also called the strategic marketing process influences the marketing functional structure.
Different businesses in the same company could face different competitive situations and thus
could need different organizational structures. Along with these interrelationships there could be
a technology strategy that influences and is influenced by the corporate strategy. The technology
strategy influences the business marketing process. It is therefore postulated in this paper that the
business marketing process or the strategic marketing process is an important initial process
among the functional strategies owing to the need to understand requirements of the customer
and match it with the corporate strategy and technology strategy.
Along with the above interrelationships, it is necessary that for successful execution, the
individual goals sub serve to group goals and there is goal congruence between individual and
organizational goals. In addition there should be effective feedback so that the firm performs in
the right direction. This can be achieved by appropriate incentives and controls. The incentives
should reinforce strategic and short term objectives. Controls in turn, must provide timely and
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valid feedback about organizational performance so that change and adaptation become part and
parcel of the execution effort.
Business Marketing Strategy is important in its own right because it helps achieve competitive
advantage and profits for the business unit and hence to the organization.
The strategic
organizational process operates in an overall context of business environment that includes (a)
change (b) culture (c) leadership (d) power. Successful execution demands changes in job
responsibilities, organizational structure, coordination methods, people, incentives or controls.
Inappropriate cultures must be changed if they do not support organizational efforts. Power as
seen as the ability to solve critical problems or control of scarce organizational resources has an
important influence on the creation of strategic plans and goals. People in power also affect
execution success because of their resource control ability, hierarchy control ability and
persuading ability. Finally leadership is an organizational context variable as leadership affects
management of change, culture and the exercise of power.
The placement of strategic marketing process (also called business marketing strategy) in the
overall context of the organizational processes is shown in Figure 2. Above. (Hrebiniak, 2005).
Emphasis must be on what to do, how to do, when, why and in what order. The key aspects
defining strategy execution thus include decisions on strategy, structure, coordination,
information sharing, incentives and controls. The decisions are made in an organizational context
which has aspects of power, culture, leadership and the ability to manage change. Understanding
interactions among these various decision elements is important to understand execution.
III.
Nature of Marketing Execution / Marketing Strategy Implementation
Strategy Formulation and Execution are separate identifiable activities or processes that are
highly interdependent. Execution / strategy implementation is a specific set of behaviors and
techniques that companies needs to master in order to have competitive advantage. Execution is
a process. For successful execution, the need for a well-formulated strategy is of utmost
importance. Successful execution is said to take place when the three processes – strategy
process, people process and operations process are understood well and coherence is established
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between the three aforesaid processes (Bossidy and Charan, 2002). A host of factors, including
politics, inertia and resistance to change, routinely can get in the way of execution success.
Communication across the organization becomes a challenge, especially in large organizations
such as GM, Citicorp; the number of people involved along with the added time frames generally
associated with strategy execution clearly creates problems when trying to make a strategy work.
Execution demands commitment to and a passion for results, regardless of management level
Linking strategic objectives with the day-to-day objectives and concerns of personnel at different
organizational levels and locations becomes a legitimate and challenging task (Hrebiniak, 2005).
Some of the obstacles to Strategy Execution (Hrebiniak, 2005) included the following:
a.
Inability to manage change effectively or to overcome internal resistance to
change. Culture is at the core of change-related problems. In a way ‘change’ and
‘culture change’ are synonymous. Culture is an underlying explanatory element in
dealing with incentives, power and change.
b.
Trying to execute a strategy that conflicts with the existing power structure
c.
Poor or inadequate information sharing between individuals or business units
responsible for strategy execution
d.
Unclear communication of responsibility and / or accountability for execution
decisions or actions
e.
Poor or vague strategy
f.
Lack of feelings of ‘ownership’ of a strategy or execution plans among key
employees
g.
Not having guidelines or a model to guide strategy execution efforts
h.
Lack of understanding of the role of organizational structure and design in the
execution process.
The issues in implementation should be converted into a logical set of guidelines that can
permeate each section of organization.
Execution (Bossidy and Charan, 2002) consists of three building blocks – good leadership,
managing cultural change, managing the right people in the right place.
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Good leadership for execution consists of seven essential behaviors – (1) know your people and
your business (2) know yourself (3) insist on realism (4) set clear goals and priorities (5) follow
through (6) reward the doers (7) expand people’s capabilities.
An organization’s culture is the sum of its shared values, beliefs and norms of behavior. Values
are fundamental principles and rarely needs changing. Necessary cultural changes have to be
made to change people’s behavior so that they produce results. This requires that a set of social
operating mechanisms will change the beliefs and behaviors of people in ways that are directly
linked to bottom line results. First you tell people clearly what results you are looking for. Then
you discuss how you get those results. Next, you reward for results produced and withdraw
rewards for results that are short. Then you produce training as necessary. If this does not create
the right atmosphere, you initiate a robust dialogue among the people and leaders concerned. If
this does not work you let the people go. You thus create a culture for getting things done
(Bossidy and Charan, 2002).
Having the right people in the right places is the last building block of good execution as
outlined by Bossidy and Charan (2002). This process is hindered by (a) lack of knowledge (b)
lack of courage (c) the psychological comfort factor that leaders like to find themselves in (d)
lack of personal commitment. Good leaders often energize and motivate people, they are
decisive on tough issues, they get things done through others, and they follow through their
actions.
In addition to the three building blocks of good execution, there are the three processes of
execution – (a) the people process (b) the strategy process and (c) the operations process.
A robust people process evaluates individuals accurately and in depth, it provides a framework
of leadership and develops a basis for succession of the leadership. The people process needs to
be linked to strategic milestones over the 0-2 years, 2-5 years and >5 years time frame. The
people process should also look into handling non-performers. Further the Human Resource
function is integrated into the people process.
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The strategy process deals with gaining customer preferences and creating sustainable
competitive advantages, simultaneously leaving money/gain for shareholders. The strategy must
ensure that the right people are in place to execute the strategy. The strategy should deal with
how to get things done. The strategy process includes the development of a strategic plan taking
into account the assessment of the external environment, understanding of the customers and
markets and means and methods to grow the business profitably. It is necessary in the strategy
process to examine the competition, and the ability of the business to execute the strategy chosen
and the balancing of the short term and long term orientations. A strategy process is incomplete
without explicitly addressing how to make money on a sustained basis.
Operating processes links strategy and people to results through the operating plan. It breaks
long term output into short term targets and looks into the programs that the business will have to
complete to reach the desired levels of output that includes – earnings, sales, cash flow etc.
Synchronization between various arms of the business at the operations level is needed for
smooth execution. Follow through and contingency plans are needed for successful completion
of the operations process (Bossidy and Charan, 2002)
The implementation capabilities of an organization may have the following situational conditions
bearing upon it – (a) capabilities could be time specific and change with time (b) certain
implementation capabilities could be specific to the culture of that market or environment (c)
implementation capabilities may not be consistently good on all dimensions of organizational
endeavor – for example they could be high on technical service but not good on customer service
– thus capabilities could be partial (d) certain capabilities may not be brought into the foreground
and may remain latent due to lack of learning or management experience (e) capabilities could
be strategy specific (f) capabilities could be person specific.
Traditional approaches to marketing implementation emphasize organizational design and
manipulation of systems and structures around strategic goals (Bourgeois and Brodwin, 1984), as
well as budgeting and resource allocations systems, executive leadership approaches and control
systems.
Marketing
implementation
and
formulation
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are
treated
sequentially
with
implementation following formulation. Corey and Star (1971) point out that strategy is
influenced by structure and the balance of power within that structure; however today’s structure
would influence tomorrow’s strategy which in turn shapes tomorrow’s organization.
Recent literature brings out the process view of strategy formulation and implementation.
Process could be understood in terms of its substantive content – e.g. the new product
development process. In addition process could be conceived in terms of their purposes – value
defining, value developing and value delivering processes. Processes could be analyzed in terms
of an analytic /technical dimension, a behavioral dimension and an organizational dimension.
(Piercy, 1998). This is depicted in Figure 3 below.
Analytic
Value Defining
Value Developing
Value Delivering
Information
Operations
Logistics
Interpretation /
Motivation /
Attitudes/
Commitment
Behavior
/ Technical
Behavioral
Understanding
Organizational
Learning
Responsiveness
StrategicOrientation
CUSTOMER VALUE
Figure 3:
The Dimensions of Organizational Processes (Piercy, 1998)
An important aspect is the consistency between the analytic, behavioral and organizational
dimensions of process; this consistency has an impact on implementation capabilities. Thus it
could be said that marketing implementation relies more on covert aspects of the marketing
organization than is commonly recognized. The process view suggests that effective strategy
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implementation rests not simply on techniques of action planning, budgeting, resource allocation
and administrative system design; it also rests on underlying beliefs and attitudes of
organizational participants, and over and above this on management interests and culture.
Some of the sources of barriers in implementation process (Piercy, 1998) are:
a.
Organizational inertia – the residue from previous strategies may provide an
inappropriate context for the new strategy; tactics executed by one unit that is
incompatible with the tactics of other sub units in the organization. Such inertial
forces are also called - limiting commitments.
b.
Organizational myopia – faulty perspectives of executives that undermine
commitment to a new marketing strategy.
c.
Resistance to change and political behavior:
problems in organizational
adjustment to new strategic initiatives
d.
Failures in implementation arise by design also called ‘designed error’, as the
organizations develop routines for implementing strategy which are taken for
granted and rarely challenged. These defensive routines are overprotective of line
management and strategic planners and favor the retention of status quo (Argyris,
1985).
e.
Information flow differences between different organizational groups could also
be a source of implementation barriers. Measurement systems and time horizons
could vary across organizational groups – for e.g. sales flow metrics could be on
sales volume whereas product management metric could be on profit
responsibility. These differing metrics cause different priorities for action that
could lead to implementation barriers.
f.
Resistance could come from other departments in the organizations owing to their
professional ideologies being different from the marketing discipline’s
philosophy. Implementation is often linked to context and the context may cause
barriers to implementation – for example – in a publishing environment editors
are more suitable to marketing strategy implementation of bringing out new books
to the market; bringing in marketing professionals is not suitable to the context
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and the implementation process may face barriers from the environment. It is thus
to be noted that marketing view and editorial view of a publishing environment
may not always be in congruence and the secrets of the market are not exclusive
property of marketers (Whittington and Whipp, 1992).
A study of implementation issues in small and medium organizations (Sashittal and Wilemon,
1996) reveals the following issues –
Marketing strategy implementation involves translating strategic intentions into action
steps, assigning relevant tasks and actions to people, ensuring that the tasks are executed
as intended and accomplish predetermined objectives. The implementation tasks include
organizational design configuration as needed as well as managing an action oriented
process that requires administration and control. Maintaining relevance between changing
market events and marketing strategy content is a fundamental implementation challenge.
Other challenges include: defining appropriate action steps for implementation; enlisting
support from other functional groups in the organization; dynamic adjustments to
implementation plans. Dynamic adjustments includes taking into account day-to-day
changes in customer preferences, competitive actions, technological advances etc.
Experientially marketing implementation is seen as (1) sales management (2) tasks and
activity management - firefighting and stopgap activities; sales support and program
development activities (3) planning-implementation gestalt where planning was central to
implementation.
3.1
Marketing Implementation Tactics
Tactics are concerned primarily with actions managers take to achieve the strategies they have
chosen. Nutt (1983) suggests that types of implementation approaches can be unilateral,
manipulative or delegated. In unilateral tactics, managers rely on the use of power and announce
the change overtly through an official edict. If problems ensue this is followed by a
demonstration to show the plan works. Further problems are countered by a replacement
approach to remove those blocking implementation and then a structural change to place likely
implementers at key positions. In manipulative tactics, first there is the unfreezing or unlearning
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of past behavior, then change is brought in to bring in new skills and behavior and refreezing
(reinforcing new patterns). In delegative tactics the aim is to get those in key positions to co-opt
and participate to bring in the required implementation changes.
One of the key tasks for top management is to consistently and accurately communicate the
strategic priority of the organization to functional level members for implementation, so that the
implementation process does not break down due to lack of alignment between the top
management and the organizational members. This shared understanding about strategic
priorities is often called as ‘strategic consensus’. Strategic consensus is a must for
implementation success. Strategic consensus can be improved by improved communication
between top management and marketing department that could also lead to improved functional
performance and improved organizational performance. The flow of information would be both
ways between the frontline and the top management. Frontline employees interact daily with
customers and are in a good position to understand needs, wants and perceptions of customers.
By vertical communication top management get insights into this fertile source of information
about the market. Strategic consensus could also be achieved by having strong communication
networks within the organization through both formal and informal mechanisms (Rapert et. Al,
2002).
Bourgeois and Brodwin (1984) have identified five process approaches to strategy
implementation. They are as follows (Ferrell et. Al, 1998):
a.
The Commander Model. This model reflects a bias to centralized direction. It uses
conventional analytical techniques to select strategic direction and organizational
power to command implementation. There is a dichotomy between the planner and
implementer. It makes decision-making easier and reduces uncertainty as what is to
be done. The disadvantages being that strategy formulators are far removed from
targeted customers and this approach often creates employee motivation problems.
This approach tends to work best when the firm has a powerful leader.
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b.
The Change Model. Here the manager is still the key player who communicates the
firm’s new priorities and gets work /tasks done, with the required organizational
changes. Culture adaptation techniques are used to bring forth the changes. The
manager in charge is more of an architect and politician. There is still a dichotomy
between the planning and implementation and a ‘power-at-the top’ mentality.
c.
The Collaborative Model: The manager acts as a coordinator and the emphasis are on
team-building at a senior level in the organization. The advantages are that this
approach moves some of the decision making authority closer to the front lines; lower
level managers implementing strategy have a better idea of the strategy formation and
hence can implement better. This involvement of the front line managers brings in
greater motivation and commitment in the employees. The barrier between the
strategists and implementers still remains. This approach tends to work best in
complex, uncertain and highly unstable environments.
d.
The Cultural Model: There is infusion of new corporate culture throughout the
organization, with the manager acting as a coach. All employees participate in
making decisions, and as a result the barrier between strategists and implementers are
broken down. Marketing Strategy is considered a part of the overall organizational
vision. There is a good amount of decentralization called empowerment.
Implementation problems are solved at the cost of much time in consensus decision
making and culture building activities.
e.
The Crescive Model: Bottom up strategy formation and implementation is
encouraged, with adequate openness of the organization to new information being
maintained. The abilities of the managers to create and implement strategies for
business are drawn out by senior management.
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IV.
1.
Postulates about Marketing Strategy Implementation
There must be a leader or group specifically earmarked for marketing strategy
implementation. Associated with this leader or group, there must be an
accountability and responsibility
2.
Early on in the organization’s history the organization must do everything
possible to succeed in implementation. This builds up a favorable precedent
that instills confidence in the organization. In the case of start-ups success in
implementation is ensured if the order-books are full. Inefficient sales teams
could lead to implementation failures. Personal care must be taken by topmanagement to obtain and service the first order of every important customer.
3.
The implementation structure could be different from the organization
structure to take care of power, politics, resource deployment, accountability.
4.
Sufficient funds must be set aside for execution. The execution process must
not be hampered for want of funds.
5.
Skills of taking the ‘offering’ to the market must be built into the
implementation
group. This
includes forecasting
skills, competitive
intelligence, advertising and communication skills, complaint management
skills etc.
6.
Trust is at the core of implementation process – between important group
members. Role assignment and work allocation must be done with trust and
faith
7.
Marketing strategy implementation should be a natural evolution of marketing
strategy formulation process. This means members of the formulation team
should be equally well consulted if implementation is to succeed.
8.
System of early warning / feedback should be outlined so that initial signs of
difficulty / failure should be read and implementation path suitably changed
e.g. – there may be a need to go through agents/ dealers for shoes in addition
to own showrooms if the required market share has to be attained.
9.
A system of buying support from inside for implementation purpose would
ease the process of implementation and lead to success.
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10.
Processes of development of an organization extended family for
implementation purpose with the critical value add processes taken into the
central organization could lead to success.
11.
Resource allocation should go hand in hand with implementation if
implementation has to be effective
12.
Achieving functionalities in the market offerings is one of the aims of a good
implementation process e.g. If a premium hotel such as Leela Penta stresses
on ‘service par excellence’ as one of its functionalities, then operations as an
implementation process should be fine tuned to achieve this functionality
13.
Good implementation arises partly from good relationships with customers,
vendors, collaborators etc.
14.
Good implementation occurs with the right mix of experts in formulation as
well as implementation. An organization overloaded with either of the one
category of formulators/implementers may result in a situation of too many
cooks spoiling the broth or a lack of strategic vision
15.
A ‘fetish for execution’ motive could help an organization overcome
implementation obstacles arising put of people interactions.
16.
Coordination skills between and within the strategy process, people process,
operations process are important for good implementation. Firms may attempt
to obtain competitive advantage about implementation processes through
causal ambiguity.
17.
Reward and incentive schemes to corroborate the execution successes not only
leads to good motivation but also leads to goodwill among executives for
future execution programmes of organization. A certain amount of hype about
rewards and incentives may be useful.
18.
Failures in implementation though not necessarily due to poor strategy, should
be analyzed and corrective measures taken for future implementation
programmes.
19.
It may be useful to think of marketing strategy implementation as a
programme as much as it is a process.
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20.
Management of market externalities is an important part of the
implementation process. This includes government clearances, lobbying with
government for specific provisions, channel management programmes.
21.
Implementation will be successful if it is seen as a WIN-WIN procedure for
the firm and its partners – be it dealers, collaborators, suppliers.
22.
Power and Politics are influencers in the marketing strategy implementation
process. Managers in charge of implementation should train themselves to
work around these aspects rather than bypassing them.
23.
Implementation involves resource expenditures and as such conflict is bound
to arise. Managers should be able to resolve conflicts well.
24.
Effectiveness of a marketing strategy implementation is influenced by the
appropriate choice of ‘market vs. hierarchy’ for conducting their tasks.
25.
The Value Proposition of the business needs to be carefully delivered to the
customer through appropriate implementation processes.
26.
Giving attention to competition – whom, when and how – can lead to
powerful market oriented implementation strategies.
V.
Empirical Verification
Himalaya Drug Company
This company is an herbal health care company in India. Their insights are as follows:
a.
One of the main marketing implementation problems they have faced is one of
migration in the consumer perception from one category to another. One example
is that of ‘Complan’ which was a pure prescription product in the 1970s and had
to migrate to the OTC (over the counter) category by 2000. The conversion to
OTC markets was done through mass marketing techniques that built up visibility
and availability. The second category is of pure herbal products like
Ashwagandha which was marketed through big format stores and franchise
outlets to migrate from consumer products to Rx market. The migration of this
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category of pure herbs to the Rx category was faced with inhibition from the field
force, as to how to take a popular brand to the Doctor for his recommendation. A
detailed brand presentation was made to doctors that included naming of herbs
such as Ashwagandha to be Ashwagandha Himalaya, gifts schemes for doctors,
ad support for prints to trade, conduct of several promotion campaigns such as
diabetes campaign for diabetes drugs etc. In case of baby soap and baby oil,
Herbal Actives mentioned in the product were used as differentiators and were
supported by clinical trials. The main bottlenecks in migrating from consumer
products to Rx market was that the stockists for the consumer products was
different from the stockists for Rx market, their discounting structures was
different. The whole process of migration was implemented much as a market
development or market expansion route.
b.
The main issue of marketing implementation is that of overcoming resistance to
change. This they handled through the processes of repetitive communication,
persuasion and awareness building to overcome resistance of doctor, chemist,
medical representatives, and managers. Innovative activities of corporate
marketing in terms of different promotional campaigns with data on results
obtained in trial markets convinced the executors of need and benefits of change
and the implementation change was brought about.
c.
In start ups power and politics is less as sales pressure is high.
d.
Power of implementation is more important than fund availability as funds are
available from management for innovative activities.
e.
Skills of taking the ‘offering to the market’ is built through training
f.
The second main issue apart from overcoming resistance to change is the need for
a measurement system to check the implementation process. The results of
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implementation should be properly measured and feedback given to the relevant
nodes in the organization.
g.
Communication stands out as one of the processes for good implementation. This
includes vertical communication through hierarchy, horizontal communication,
networked communication through different nodes in the organization and lastly
unofficial channels of communication. If these communication channels are
effectively utilized along with political suaveness then it would lead to
implementation success.
h.
For a marketing strategy to succeed it is important that the formulator should be
aware of ground realities
i.
Stretch targets to line managers are given to reduce politics and conflicts. This
may however dampen enthusiasm.
j.
The choice of ‘market vs. hierarchy’ for implementation purposes depends on the
orientation of the owner.
k.
Information feedback to implementation heads is kept up, through daily sales
reports, ORG_IMS audits to monitor sales at stockist’s levels. At Head Office
level a prescription audit is also held.
l.
A successful leader is needed to champion the implementation process as
mentioned in the first postulate of implementation in the previous section. The
organization has recruited a Sales Force Effectiveness Director to bring about a
connect between the formulators and the implementers.
m.
Trust plays a vital role in implementation.
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Airtel
This is a cellular services company in India. Their insights are as follows:
a.
The telecom market is volatile, influenced by market externalities which influence
business forecasts drastically. The telecom sector is heavily regulated by the
government. The latest innovative measure on the cards is Number portability. In
the traditional systems the telecom firm owns the number. In number portability
the customer owns the number and consequently can switch operators with
greater ease, thereby making the market more deal prone.
b.
There are frequent changes in the market scenario owing to continuous marketing
activity, technological advancements etc.
c.
SEC ‘A’ and ‘B’ have been mobile for several years now. In the state of
Karnataka alone, out of a total active target of 40 million, there are 12.5 mobile
subscribers. Monthly payout plays a critical role for SEC ‘C’, ‘D’, ‘E’. Other
factors that influence new customers are (1) geographic expansion (2) tariff
competition (3) distribution expansion (4) entry cost.
d.
The firm carries on its implementation task using an annual plan and a five year
plan, as well as an appropriate organizational structure as shown below
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Chief Executive Officer (Karnataka Circle)
_____________________________________________________
Chief Operating Officer
Sales & Mktg
Customer Service
Technical Networks Finance
Info Tech
Zonal Business Managers of all Zones in India
Marketing Team
Customer Acquisitions
Revenue and Usage
Commercial Marketing
Value Added Services
Roaming
e.
There is no requirement of a separate Marketing Implementation Director, as this
function is handled by the COO and the Marketing Head.
f.
Implementation is the key to success. Good Implementation of poor strategy is
better than bad implementation of good strategy.
g.
Special events are a good method to achieving implementation milestones, and
there are necessary flexibilities to bring out organizational changes to get these
special events conducted.
h.
In this organization the planner and implementer are clubbed into one.
i.
The heads of the various departments coordinate on basis of trust.
j.
Information systems on market are exhaustive. Good paths exist to early warning
/correction systems
k.
The firm operates through partners for delivering solutions to the customer. These
include Ericsson (Network), IBM (Info Tech).
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l.
The firm operates in Karnataka through the core pillars of Network superiority
and Customer delight. The Value Proposition is maintained through a Service
Assurance department. Feedback from Customer on service quality is obtained by
third party agencies.
m.
Coordination skills in the implementation process are more important than
individual skills.
n.
Buy-in is a very important feature of the implementation. Efforts are made to buyin all departments with respect to the Annual Plan. Cross – departmental buy-in is
important, so that the firm as an aggregate is not at loss.
Britannia Industries Ltd.
This is a leading FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) Company based in Bangalore, India.
Their insights are as:
a.
Marketing Strategy and consequently its implementation is not insular, as other
functional strategies will have their influence.
b.
Marketing Strategy is not one monolith. There are different sub-sections or
components owing to the multi-divisional structure of the organization.
c.
There is intelligence inputs to Execution and the formulation-execution interface
is dynamic
d.
Formulators could be implementers.
e.
Funds are a limited part of the organizational requirement for execution. Also
included is a build up of time, money, processes, skills etc.
f.
Managing relationships and managing market externalities well is a positive
factor to marketing execution success.
g.
Marketing Implementation in the world is stochastic in nature. How the firm
engages with uncertainties during execution has a bearing on success of the
execution effort. Examining variability, leveraging variability and adapting to
variability is important.
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h.
Execution also involves examining the consumer aspects to be able to tune the
deliverables that are important from the consumer point of view.
Laguna Clothing
This firm is an apparel exporting company (formal dress shirts) based out of Bangalore. Their
insights are:
a.
Strategy formulation is easier due to the availability of special tools and techniques as
well as consultants who are able to spare attention. Execution on the other hand has
failures due to failures of implementers to understand organizational dynamics,
misjudgment of abilities of implementing group and poor communication during the
execution stage. Buy in is not necessary for implementing strategy
b.
Leader is required for overseeing execution of tasks as well as acting as an integrator
of strategy formulation and strategy implementation aspects. This integration is one
of the most important parts of Business Marketing Strategy.
c.
Depending on market context and stage of firm, marketing strategy may or may not
be the lead strategy. Initial efforts in implementation considerations of a start up
business could be in management recruitment and quality achievement.
d.
Laguna Clothing’s initial strategy formulation design was in high end dress shirts.
However there was difficulty of getting orders for the high end position. It was
relatively easier to sell less expensive / cheap formal shirts. However it was the
leader’s responsibility of selling high end fabric shirts despite difficulty of order
getting. This is where the leader should integrate and position the firm in the right
direction. Further the customers have to be communicated of the high end position.
e.
Structure for implementation could be different from the organizational structure, but
the implementation structure and the organizational structure should be well
integrated into one another at the Leader’s level, and if there is a radically different
marketing strategy then a new organization has to be created.
f.
Rewards and incentives to be implemented are aligned with the marketing strategy
formulation. Rewards, pay incentives, persuasion, power, politics is the reality of the
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organization and implementation managers should know to effectively use these
structures for achieving good execution.
VI.
Implication for Managers
1. Marketing Strategy Implementation is seen as a process as well as a programme.
In such a case Implementation could also be seen as an event management
programme – e.g. launch of a new brand
2. Though Marketing Strategy could be postulated as a lead functional strategy
owing to the requirement of understanding customer needs and wants, business
managers are of the opinion that this is not necessarily true. Quality management
and people recruitment strategies could be the initial / lead processes to be
executed
3. Leadership is a key to Marketing Strategy Implementation. The strategy
formulation and strategy implementation strategies become integrated at the
leader level and this is important for success
4. Bourgeois and Brodwin (1984) identify five different models of implementation –
Commander, Change, Collaborative, Cultural and Crescive. However the
organization could evolve through these five models and also the implementation
model could change from one implementation process to another depending on
sensitivity of the market context, the marketing strategy being executed and on
the value proposition being offered.
5. Making an organization ready to accept ‘change’ and move accordingly is very
important as it is sometimes said that “nothing is more permanent than change’.
Change here includes culture change.
6. Achieving desired functionalities to customer is as important as executing
strategy. Customer end success is achieved through satisfaction and delight of
customer end functionalities.
7. Good relationships with dealers, collaborators and other market externality
organizations are a prerequisite to implementation success. At the same time
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relationship risk has to be managed by not getting too much entangled with
customer emotions.
8. Developing information asymmetry advantages through suitable interactions with
customers as a part of relationship marketing exercise during implementation
could be a facilitator of competitive advantage.
9. Communication and Signaling in both horizontal and vertical positions in an
organization should be clear and simple to achieve better effectiveness and
efficiency during the implementation process.
10. Distinctions between planners and implementers are useful for large
organizations in stable market environments. In emerging markets it is useful to
integrate both aspects into the decisions maker’s roles.
11. Brands and Corporate Reputation is built during the implementation processes.
This means the quality of the implementation personnel should be adequately
looked into. Hiring key people for important positions with result oriented
mindset and skills are important for implementation success.
12. Budgets have to be not only laid out but also sustained in case of overruns. This
means top management commitment or deep pockets could aid in success of an
implementation programme.
13. Power, politics and conflict resolution mechanisms should be incorporated into
the implementer’s mindset.
14. Managers always face a choice between market and hierarchy for executing the
strategy. This is all the more important in these days of global outsourcing.
15. Success of Implementation is driven on the formulation side by (1) how well the
value proposition of the business is formulated and (2) how well the opportunity
analysis has been done (3) how well competitor moves are conjectured.
16. Implementation success of marketing strategy is also influenced by an effective
marketing control applied on the implementation process.
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